A rare pro athlete

[ladypanther]

When's the last time you heard this?

Jones, the first overall pick in the 1990 draft, has never come close to leaving Atlanta.

"Nowadays, so many players play the game for the 1st and 15th (pay days), but I never have," he said. "Certainly, I want to be compensated fairly for what I do, but I wasn't going to hold the organization over a barrel. And I never wanted to be a player who makes so much money that we can't stay competitive on the field. That was my main concern."

That was Chipper Jones, of the Braves.

[Joscott]

Chipper has always been a stand up guy, not many of those left nowadays.

[Captroop]

Very rare indeed. Chipper's been one of my fave's since I played little league.

I think Smitty is a close as I've seen. I don't think he'd ever be a paycheck to paycheck player, and I don't think (or maybe desperately hope to the point of deluding myself) that he would never leave Carolina.

[carpanfan96]

One of my favorite players. Great stand up guy.....Wish more pro players would be like him..

[Jangler]

I guess we will find out in a couple of years if we have players like that on the Panthers in Williams, Beason and others.

[Panthro]

It's a shame he played for the Braves

[Scrumtrilescent]

Played?

After his early career, uh, missteps, I've had a hard on for him since. HOF lock.